June 19, 2008, 10:27AM

Hello, Local Buzz faithful. We're moving, ever so slightly, to a new location on the world wide interwebs, so we'd recommend updating your bookmarks, browsers, and various web exploring ephemera. Effective immediately, our new posts will no longer be appearing here in the blog.masslive.com/localbuzz location. You can find our latest posts now at www.local-buzz.com. Likewise, if you're use to getting... Full story »

June 04, 2008, 3:35PM

We haven't checked in on the Young @ Heart film in a while. The documentary on the local singing group was released back on April 9 amidst a flurry of press and appearances on both The Tonight Show and The Ellen Show. With all the buzz, it's only natural to wonder how it's been faring in theaters alongside the... Full story »

May 30, 2008, 5:26PM

In a phone interview this afternoon, Chelan Brown, a candidate for State Representative in the 11th Hampden District, reiterated her claim that plagiarized content that appeared on her campaign Web site on Wednesday was the result of "unauthorized tampering." Details will follow as I transcribe our conversation, but here are a few key points: Full story »

May 28, 2008, 4:34PM

At 9:32 a.m. today, a participant using the name "NewJackCity" in MassLive's Springfield forum posted a link to the Web site of Chelan Brown, a candidate for State Representative in the 11th Hampden District. Five minutes later, NewJackCity followed up with a post noting a curious inconsistency: A graphic in a section of Brown's Web site discussing her position on... Full story »

May 19, 2008, 5:38PM

In the vacant lot at the corner of Willard and Shattuck Streets, the t-shirts and hats were homemade, the ink from new tattoos drying in the intermittent sun. Officially, it was called a rally; but, a block over, on the sidewalk of Maynard Street, one girl had asked another if she was going to the memorial. And so it... Full story »

May 07, 2008, 2:31PM

Sales of "Grand Theft Auto IV" topped $500 million worldwide in the video game's first week of release. That's approximately 6 million units sold. While the game has received massive criticism for it's violence (and stellar reviews for its gameplay), that's quite an accomplishment. As a point of contrast, "Halo 3" pulled in $300 million in its first week a... Full story »

April 21, 2008, 10:55AM

For over a year, the main sanctuary at First Churches on Main Street in Northampton has been waiting for help. Chunks of plaster falling from the ceiling laid the smack down on a handful of empty pews and necessitated moving regular services, including Palm Sunday and Easter, to the adjoining Lyman Hall. Last month, the Community Preservation Committee granted... Full story »

April 18, 2008, 11:07AM

On Thursday night, Northampton's City Council passed a resolution called "Buy Local, Buy Fair" that designates the city as the country's sixth "Fair Trade Town." With the passing of the resolution, Northampton joins the ranks of Amherst and Brattleboro. A volunteer-run group called Northampton Fair Trade has been raising awareness and building support for the resolution since 2007. What... Full story »

April 17, 2008, 1:41PM

The NBC website has video online now of The Young At Heart Chorus on last night's Tonight Show, promoting the release of the documentary on the group: The Young@Heart on Leno The link will bring up the entire episode. To jump ahead to their segments, skip to the fifth part for the interview portion that features three members of the... Full story »

March 28, 2008, 12:31PM

Local Buzz contributor Jeffrey Byrnes checks in with photos from the tanker explosion that shut down I-91 near Chicopee this morning. You can find the Republican's coverage here: I-91 partially reopened after trailer explodes More photos after the jump. Full story »

March 28, 2008, 10:36AM

They play Quidditch in college. As part of the Intercollegiate Quidditch Assocation, started in 2005 and over 60 teams strong at colleges nationwide, the Amherst College Acromantulas welcomed the Middlebury College Mollywobbles today (although the names appear to change from time to time). Here's a video of the first game, by which Amherst was shut out by, like, 150 points... Full story »

March 20, 2008, 1:56PM

This week, news broke that the administration at Amherst Regional Middle School would not distribute the March issue of a student newspaper called The Chestnut Street Journal. The issue reports the findings of a student-conducted poll about perceptions of the school's mission statement, disciplinary procedures and student input in the school community. School officials have justified banning the issue... Full story »

March 19, 2008, 3:01PM

In a slowing economy, auctioneers are a lot busier; Hooters Girls, maybe not as much as you'd think. And with that, the City of Springfield and commoditized cleavage, both battling transition and decline, parted ways. In a grey suit, mint-green tie and running sneakers, Justin Manning, President and CFO of JJ Manning Auctioneers and fresh off a torn Achilles,... Full story »

March 13, 2008, 11:55PM

Above: Hussein Ibish on Crossfire in 2003 Hey, UMass undergrads circa 1996-2002, ever wonder what happened to Hussein Ibish? He wrote columns for the Daily Collegian that were often about subjects most undergrads back then wanted to hear nothing about: the Middle East; very earnest leftism. Well, guess what? Since then he's headed or been involved with about a... Full story »